Large billed reed warbler spotted in India after 140 years

A rare wetland bird _ not reported seen in India for 140 years _ has been spotted near the eastern city of Calcutta, giving bird watchers and scientists hope for studying the species.

The large-billed reed warbler, an olive-brown bird with a long beak and short wings, was discovered in 1867 in the Sutlej Valley of India.

Because it was so rare, scientists had long debated whether it represented a true species or was an aberrant individual of a more common species. That debate ended when an ornithologist captured one outside of Bangkok, Thailand, in March 2006.

Photographs and DNA testing confirmed the large-billed reed warbler as a separate species.